New European Union copyright legislation will create a “perverse incentive” forcing big internet companies, such as Google or Facebook, to take down copyrighted content before removing terrorist videos or child pornography. Currently, internet companies are obliged to remove illegal content when they are made aware of it. However, the new rules will force them to block the uploading of copyrighted music videos or football matches before it is published online. Counter-extremism experts have warned that the new legislation will have the unintended consequence of making it easier to upload a jihadist training video than a popular song. “Extremist content like the video watched by the Manchester bomber, where he learned how to make a bomb, before he carried out his attack will still be governed by the ‘old’ rules,” said Lucinda Creighton, former Irish Minister for European affairs and senior adviser to the counter-extremism project think tank. “This proposed change on copyright will create a perverse incentive for the tech companies to more vigilantly police for copyrighted content than for terrorist content.”